Email. Sigh. There really is nothing like BB email. However, I didn't need access to time sensitive email, thus it's not enough of a draw vs. the browser and iPod to bridge the gap for me. But I will tell you that for email there is no comparison between the two devices. Yes, I can get HTML email on my iPhone, but it doesn't matter because it's not PUSH and their email is as flaky as hell. Also, have I mentioned I can't mass delete on my iPhone? Granted they're correcting that in June, but it's just insane that so simple a feature wasn't included in the get go.

Very nice accurate summary. I hope you mean for "simple a feature" to refer to "mass-delete" and not the full blown enterprise solution promised for June. That is the big "if". Is the iPhone enterprise solution competitive with BB?

I ditto just about everything you point out. But I still keep reaching for my 8703e when I leave home. For me it all hinges on the simple trade off: browsing v email.

I was irked from the get go when Apple promised and still promises that iPhone browsing is just like real browsing. We all know that can't be, if for no other reason than the size of the screen. But the ease and fluidity iPhone brings to mobile browsing defines a new plateau for all others to match. And finger scrolling is on par with the invention of the mouse, the wave of the future. iPhone throws down the gauntlet. Put up or shut up.

Back to business. I am happy Apple concedes the glaring omission. iPhone's promise to compete with BB over state-of-the-art email, will be the deciding factor if they can do it. It is a daunting challenge. But when smart people turn from trying to prove who is best and learn to cooperate for the common improvement of techno-life, wonders can happen. RIM has relaxed on its side so that the technology can move to other platforms. And Apple says it's all up an running, just finishing up a couple more months of Beta. We'll see.

But "daunting" may be an understatement. RIM isn't just idly standing by hoping iPhone is just a bad dream. Technologically, it is far simpler to add music and graphics, than to reinvent enterprise email from the ground up. I had been holding my at&t contract upgrade to see which one would be first on the block with 3G or something comparable. But wound up with an iPhone anyway through other channels. It is exiting times, and the breakneck speed at which new tech arrives on the market will only exponentially increase.